The Summer Cottage
by crazierthanu
Summary: Edward takes a trip to Jasper's family cottage, where a girl, Bella, catches his eye. She is oblivious, being pursued by Jacob.


_Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I just like to fool around with her characters._

x-x-x-x-x-x

**The Summer Cottage**

Edward Masen was tired of his life. He was only twenty-four, but he felt emotionally exhausted. He was just about to graduate from Ryerson University with a degree in business. He also studied music as his minor, which was what he really wanted to pursue.

He knew what was expected of him. His father was a business entrepreneur. He had always hoped that Edward would follow in his footsteps. It was something Edward knew would please his father. He really did want to please him and was basically resigned to doing just that. He knew that he could do a great job, as he had graduated at the top of his class. He was cocky even, thinking that he could do it with a blindfold and his hands tied behind his back.

He needed a challenge. Craved it.

The music is what really burned inside his soul. He garnered so much satisfaction when creating music. He imagined spending all day, every day doing just that. And only that. It would be heaven.

Was it possible to have a compromise?

Maybe he could be all business in the day, and all music the rest of the time.

He had to get away. He planned a short trip right after his school year ended. His friend, Jasper, had a summer home north of Toronto – in the Muskokas. It was the Shangri-la of cottage country. It was a land that was dotted with multi-million dollar summer homes on pristine lakes. Even celebrities vacationed there.

Jasper's cottage, however, was not really what one would call 'grand'. It was passed down through his family over many generations. His grandfather had been from Texas and had driven all the way up on the suggestion of an army buddy who'd been from Toronto, Canada.

It was, in reality, a fixer-upper. The kind of place you knew you would have to work at each time you ventured for a 'holiday'. Something always needed fixing. Edward didn't mind this – he needed some distraction to clear his mind.

But before that hard-earned break, finals still needed to be written. He wasn't concerned, as this came all too easily for him. It always was amazing to Edward that he studied exactly the correct passages. As if he could read his professors' minds and knew the focus of their exams. _Huh._ He laughed aloud and ran his hand through his perpetually fucked up mane.

Aware suddenly that he had actually vocalized his thought, by the glares of students he had distracted in the school's library, he smiled nervously and brought his head down to feign his own scholarly habit. _Shit._

He hated bringing attention to himself. It wasn't a contrary desire, even though music would appear to be a vocation in which he'd be forced into the limelight, as he only desired to write music. He hadn't really thought through how he could possibly make any kind of living at it yet, but hoped that the answer would be apparent one day.

He quickly tired of 'studying' and got up to leave. Just as he gathered his books into his backpack, he caught sight of someone he wished he could avoid. Just getting off the elevator was Lauren. They had nasty history.

She and Edward had gone on two dates last fall. The last one hadn't ended well. The first date was benign – the usual dinner and movie. Not a big deal. Edward had thought that a second date was in order, and invited her to go on a picnic to Edward's Gardens. No relation. They had both agreed to pool resources and brought their own lunches, drinks and blankets to sit on.

It was an Indian summer type of day in October. After eating, Edward suggested they take a walk along the trail by the stream. What he hadn't bargained on was Lauren's inability to navigate safely through weeds, rocks and roots. One path led them perilously close to the water's edge and, sure enough, she twisted her ankle on a rock, lost her balance and slid into the freezing water.

Edward was roughly ten feet ahead of her and was unable to reach her before she submerged her lower half. He didn't mean to, but the sight of her exasperated and shocked face, soaked to her upper thighs, was too comical for Edward to resist the snicker which escaped his lips. He instantly regretted the slip, but could do nothing to atone for it in her eyes.

He did aid her in getting out of the drink, but she was infuriated. Stalking off, she left her belongings behind and stormed, or rather, dripped off to her car.

Edward didn't know what he should have done, so he just let her leave without following. That might have been what tipped the scales against him and that effectively ended their budding relationship.

So, as soon as he saw her in the library, he turned on his heel and began walking quickly in the opposite direction, with the intent of turning around and navigating his way through the book shelves and back around to exit by the same elevators she'd just came from.

That was a close one, he thought. He just didn't want to face her glare again.

It was actually a good thing that he wasn't attached to anyone at this stage of his life. He was at loose ends and needed time to get his act together. Not that he was concerned about not being successful. How could he not be?

The day of his final exam finally arrived and Edward was prepared. He was the first to complete the exam, out of 134 other students writing it - that made him feel pretty damn smug. He was so anxious to finally complete it that he didn't even take the time to double check his answers.

What was the point? He wondered to himself. _I know I aced it_. He smiled to the few fellow students who looked at him incredulously as he made his way out of the lecture hall.

It was time to celebrate. His friends had made a reservation at the local pub to secure 5 tables all together for their shindig. They knew there would be a lot of drinking going on, so nobody came with cars.

They prided themselves on being socially conscious, even when they would eventually become so inebriated that a few of them would have to be carried out physically.

Edward prided himself on his record of never having been in such a state thus far. But he was so ecstatic at the completion of his educational career, who knew? He was going to let his hair down, so to speak.

There were a few of his friends who had girlfriends and one was even married. Emmett was thoroughly whipped, in Edward's eyes, and was in constant contact with Rosie, even when he was out on a guys' night. _Pathetic_.

Usually girls weren't invited to their events, but this being their final gathering before embarking on their respective journeys, they allowed this encroachment.

It wasn't too bad for Edward as he was situated at the far end of the row of tables, where no girls sat. He enjoyed himself while eating pizza and drinking a lot of beer. It took far more alcohol to reach the level of drunkenness as his buddies, due to his taller stature, so he tried to drink faster than them.

His goal accomplished, Edward sat back and listened to the band playing in the bar and found himself in a truly melancholy state. Why was he feeling this way? He should be elated at having finally succeeded at obtaining his business degree. It had been a long, long 4 years. _Fuck._

All he could think about was that he didn't want to go into business. Edward was bright enough to know what he should do…but…he couldn't ignore his heart. He just wanted to make music.

How could he escape his father's world? He had to figure out a diversion, something that his father would understand. Surely he remembered being young and wanting to fulfill a dream.

No. His father was all business, all the time. Edward was sure his father had never had a different dream than the one he was living. He was happy, content. Satisfied.

Well, tomorrow he'd be off to spend the week at Jasper's cottage and that would give him the opportunity to think about his future.

-\-/\-/o

Twenty-nine degrees Celsius that day and Jasper's car had no A/C.

They were both sweating bullets and stinking to high heavens by the end of their journey. Once they reached the marina, they hopped onto the small boat and made the short trip to the cottage. Not wanting to expose any unsuspecting human to their stench, they forgoed their shopping trip for supplies. A quick dip in the lake would remedy that and then they planned to visit the local convenience store, which owned a liquor vending license so it would be killing two birds with one stone.

Edward was actually awed by the property where the cottage was situated. It had 300 feet of sandy beach, which was apparently not the norm in this locale. Most of the cottages were perched on rocky terrain and had basically no beachfront. It was on a secluded island on Bass Lake, which was home to four other cottages.

Jasper really didn't know the other owners, not having spent much time there in the past since he was a teen. Edward didn't even think Jasper knew if this was the right cottage or not. He hadn't brought a key, so they had to break a window to get into the place.

"Jasper, what the fuck? Is this really your family's cottage?|" Edward was doubtful as to the truthfulness of his flighty friend. He ran his hand through his cob-webbed hair, getting a little bit more wary by the minute.

"Edward, do you really think I wouldn't recognize my own cottage? Just because I forgot the keys, doesn't mean I'm a complete moron," Jasper replied, exasperation being the main emotion in his voice.

"I don't know Jazz – I just thought since you haven't been up here in ages and the key thing…it could happen…" Edward tried to unwind him, a mad Jasper was definitely not what he wanted to experience during his stay. Jasper knew how to fight, that's for sure, and wouldn't need much provocation. Edward hoped he wouldn't start anything with him, his closest friend.

"Ok, stop all that shit about my competence, all right? Let's party!" Jasper's moods were also quite quick to change and he knew how to affect the people around him. Edward was instantly on board with his festive intentions.

"Great! So is it going to be just the two of us partying…that sounds…fun?" Edward was half-teasing, half serious, hoping that there would be more able bodied persons ready to join our fun, especially of the female variety.

"Of course, stupid, there's a bunch of people I know around. I'll just make some phone calls and we've got a party - tonight!" Jasper was psyched, eager to begin his night of bingeing and laughing.

Edward tried to act like he was on board with the plan, but was rather doubtful as to its success. He scoped out the cottage for party type supplies, but it was pretty barren. They really did need to go to the local convenience store to stock up or else they were going to starve. Edward wasn't good if he was hungry. His stomach growled with ferocious need.

"Great, Jazz, let's get going to the store for some grub." Edward encouraged as he grabbed his life-vest, heading to the ancient boat which was moored at the dock. It turned out to be a Boston Whaler, over fifty years old. It was in sad shape, but they were touted as the 'unsinkable' boats.

"Okay, okay—geez—hold your horses, man. I'm coming." Jasper didn't get the urgency of his friend.

Jasper decided to take the scenic roundabout route back to the marina, feeling the need to catch up on the ever-changing scenery. As they traversed the lake at half-speed, they could see that there were a multitude of young people hanging out at their respective docks, sunbathing and swimming. Jasper waved enthusiastically as he passed each group of holiday-ers.

Edward was taking in the sights, too. But he was more specific in his observations. His keen eyes zeroed in on all shapely female figures. There was one in particular he found attracted his interest more so than the rest. She was lying on the beach beside a boathouse, in her robin's egg blue tankini, on her back, while her long, curly mahogany tresses were sprawled on her beach towel. She didn't notice him, however, because her arm was covering her eyes to block out the sun's brightness.

He was instantly elated to have Jasper deciding on taking this circuitous route to the marina. He was going to find out who this luscious creature was - and soon.

They docked the boat at the run-down marina in one of their tilted metal covered slips, tied up the ropes and walked along the rickety boards to the parking area. Edward was a bit scared that the boathouse might not be in an altogether upright position upon their return, but Jasper claimed it had always been in the same state of disrepair.

Jasper pulled at his arm and dragged him up the hill to where their car was parked. Edward practically walked backwards, not wanting to tear his emerald green eyes off of her.

Edward had trouble concentrating on what his friend was saying on the trip to the store, so when Jasper finally stopped the car and sat, staring questioningly at him, he finally snapped to.

"What? Sorry, Jazz…what did you say?" he apologetically returned.

They got out of the car, Edward shaking off any embarrassment having his lusty thoughts been exposed by Jasper. Once inside the store, self-preservation took over and said thoughts were pushed temporarily to the back of Edward's mind.

"Man – you talk about me being a moron. Get your brain out of her tankini and concentrate. We need food! And party supplies…beer. Ah – there it is…" Jasper followed his vision of beer cans lined up in a fridge case covering one whole wall of the store.

That same vision stirred Edward to the present task. He loved beer. Lots of beer. The release of stress was the main draw for Edward, and drinking helped to unravel those thoughts that caused the stress.

They hastily grabbed every type of snack food available on the shelves, anticipating a large turnout for their last minute shindig. Jasper was doing double duty by contacting anyone and everyone whom he knew in the area by cell phone and gathering all the supplies he could carry in one armload.

He was like an army major as he ordered Edward to pick up the pace and instructed him as to what supplies he was unable to carry, then to put onto the cashier's counter. He was extremely jovial with the staff and his exuberance rubbed off on them as well.

"Let's go, buddy. Time's a wasting. We still have to pick up the pizzas from down the highway and get back before our revellers arrive," he said at the same time he was in the process of completing the purchase transaction on the debit card machine.

As they arrived back at the marina parking lot, Edward's memory of the stunning mermaid on the beach resurfaced. Damn. She wasn't there anymore. The beach was empty.

His mood sank a few notches, and the thought of getting wasted got better every second. He was looking forward to the feeling of floating freely, not being tethered to the demands pulling at him every day.

Edward went to get his guitar after all the supplies were un-bagged and placed onto bowls and paper plates and cups put out onto the table. He sat down by the fireplace and began to strum a few chords absent-mindedly. He was soon lost in another world, transported to a universe of his own compositions. They always had that effect on him and it resulted in granting him inner peace and joy.

Jasper ran down to the dock as the first group of happy partiers were arriving. Edward suddenly felt a bit on the outside, not knowing anybody in Jasper's circle of cottage friends.

He wasn't normally an introverted type at all, so he wasn't sure why he felt this way. He tried to shake it off and decided that what he needed was some libation to release those nasty inhibitions. He downed a whole can of beer is practically one gulp, trying to hasten its effects.

Damn. All it managed to do was quicken the need to visit the nearest tree. He did use his discreetness and chose to walk a fair distance from the cottage before relieving himself. His mother would be proud.

He could hear the murmur of voices gain in numbers near the cottage.

Hmm, he thought, Jazz must know a lot of people here after all. Well, not everybody could possibly know everybody else, right? Edward gained some confidence as he walked back to the house where part of the group was gathered around his guitar, wondering whose it was.

They were all very friendly and quickly asked Edward to play something.

Edward, not being shy about his talent, complied. A small crowd quickly gathered around him. His style was in line with the rhythm and blues, so they were quickly hushed into silence. There was an audible gasp of acceptance as Edward strummed melodically and began to sing his own compositions.

As he continued his strumming and humming, lost in his passion, he was gazing out the panoramic window of the room when his eyes saw a vision. He wasn't sure it was real, but it was coming. His eyes were not mistaking this vision for what he had hoped to see, but were in reality truly seeing her. Her? Wow. He lost his focus and the crowd sounded disappointed at his lapse in the melody.

Edward snapped himself out of his hypnotic trance and resumed his playing. All the time, not taking his eyes off of her, as she strolled casually closer to the cottage entrance. _Holy crap!_ Edward almost uttered out loud.

She was engaged in jovial conversation with another girl and walked through the threshold with her, laughing –which sounded like an angel's singing to Edward. She didn't look around the space, oblivious to the mini-concert happening, as she walked in. She headed straight for the kitchen, where the snacks and drinks were. Her friend led her straight to them, blocking Edward from seeing her. _Damn!_ Edward inwardly cursed the misfortune of not being able to keep her in his sights.

She left the room to go mingle with other guests outside, not noticing what was transpiring in the room where Edward was surrounded by his new friends. Edward didn't want to be rude, so bode his time, all the time keeping an eye on this beautiful creature outside. As soon as the crowd had lost interest in him and began to disperse, he arose and grabbed a beer before meandering out to the front terrace to see if he could get the nerve to approach her.

She was on a lower deck, and Edward watched her, mesmerized by her lilting laugh and the way she swung her head to move her long auburn hair behind her shoulders. She had changed her attire into a blue sequined tube top, white denim short shorts and white strappy espadrilles. Gah! She's just so amazing, he thought inwardly. He was now so desperate to hear her talk that he wracked his brain to think of some believable excuse to engage her in conversation with himself.

He decided to broach the subject of her friendship with Jasper. It being common ground and that was usually a good point of initializing a dialogue. He nervously ran his long slender fingers through his ragtop mop of messed up bronzed hair as he slowly approached her. He was a man on a mission.

Just as he was within talking distance someone bounded, no pounced in between them, grabbing her and lifting her up exuberantly. She squealed in delight as Edward stepped back, fighting the urge to physically remove the obstacle. He feigned a change in direction and found a spot from which to observe their interaction.

"Jacob! Put me down," she continued to squeal, smiling all the while. Edward tried to ignore the intrusion, enjoying her glee. God, she was stunning. What a beautiful noise coming out of her. He wished she were reacting to his presence that way. He wondered who the hell this intruder was. She obviously knew him. He couldn't stand the sight of him. He was incredibly tall, well-muscled, dark-skinned, with jet-black hair. Edward felt pale in comparison, in many ways, not just physically. This lucky bastard was a friend of 'hers'.

"Bella! Bella!" he sang as he gently put her down on the deck so that she wouldn't lose her balance.

"Where have you been, doll? I've missed you this summer," he inquired, standing much too close in Edward's opinion.

Edward tried to not be obvious about his covert operation to spy on this interaction, but somebody had caught his spying. A buxom girl, with straight auburn hair had snuck up behind Edward and grabbed his arm.

"Hey there…do I know you? I'm Jessica. Do you have a cottage on this lake, too?" She intruded onto Edward's tunnel-vision gazing. He was forced to respond to her touch. His head snapped toward her, not having the most approachable of expressions on his face. He abruptly realized his rudeness and recovered his normally friendly manner.

"Hi…umm… no…Hi, Jessica, I'm Edward. And no again, I'm a friend of Jasper's." He tried to smile as he struggled to maintain a healthy distance from this obviously overly touchy-feely girl. He was also struggling with not glancing toward, he now mused, 'Bella', suddenly the center of his universe.

She had grabbed his hand to shake it and wasn't about to let it go any time soon, it appeared.

"Oh! I adore Jasper. He and I were best friends on this island, growing up." Jessica smiled, nodding her head enthusiastically, emphasizing the point.

Edward, not wanting to appear rude to one of Jasper's 'close' friends – although he'd never, ever mentioned her. But then they hadn't really ever discussed much of their childhoods, too immersed in their present university life.

"Really? That's…great. So you have a cottage on - this – same island? It's a really great spot on the lake." Edward was trying to make small talk, but his thoughts and a corner of his eye, were on the one standing a mere twenty feet away, talking to the beast who foiled his plans.

"Yes! All my life. And, it is a great spot, private, yet close to a few great people. Jasper and I used to play backgammon nearly every night when we'd both be up. Although I was disappointed when he stopped coming up. Do you play?" She didn't seem to want to stop talking, trying to keep eye contact with Edward, her brow furrowed a few times as she noticed his lack of attention. Jessica tried to follow where Edward's eyes darted to so often, and saw Bella.

Inwardly she rolled her eyes – Bella – and cursed her arch nemesis. _Bella always seemed to get the ones I was attracted to first. What the hell? What did she have that I didn't?_

Jessica tried to pull Edward by the arm lightly in the opposite direction, his gaze briefly broken as he shook his head to bring himself to focus on her. He laughed while he was trying to remember the last thing she'd said.

"Um…play? Yes, I play guitar." Edward was oblivious that he had missed that whole conversation. He let her lead him away, but not before taking one more glance at Bella and that nasty hulk talking to her.

Jessica resisted rolling her eyes, choosing to ignore his social faux pas and continued on, not missing a beat. "Do you? That's cool. Can you play for me?

"Of course, Jessie. My guitar is up at the cottage." Again, Edward was oblivious to another social faux pas – addressing her incorrectly. And, again, Jessica chose to ignore it. She didn't want to cause any waves to scare him off so soon. She chattered on all the way during the walk back to the cottage.

When they reached inside, there was a crowd around the blazing fireplace. Edward stepped carefully to avoid bumping into many legs to pull out his guitar. Seeing this, everyone became interested again in hearing Edward sing and play. He didn't want to disappoint so he glanced at Jessica, shrugging as he slung the guitar strap over his head.

Jessica was in quite an agitated state by this turn of events, but hid it behind a meek grin. She settled in between a pair of twins as it was the only space she could still see and hear Edward from. She was completely lost into his songs as soon as he began, not noticing when Bella and Jake walked back inside. Edward, however hadn't been oblivious to that fact. While he continued to sing and play, his eyes tracked Bella as she moved around the room. Bella did glance his way once, hearing the music, but was quickly distracted by something Jake said to her and she continue conversing with him.

Edward was dismayed that she had so quickly lost interest in him. He was inspired at that moment and began to play a different melody. He was making up a love song to her. One that she would likely never realize was hers. Saddened slightly, it became a melancholic tune, as his eyes dropped and stayed fixed on his hands.

He couldn't bring himself to look in her direction again, instead turning to Jessica, who was all too ready to flash him an encouraging smile. He reciprocated with one half of his lips upturned into a crooked grin. She was willing to accept anything remotely aimed in her direction. She did notice his final glimpse in Bella's general direction and the sudden change in mood. This actually made her very happy.

After Edward finished his sad love song, he bowed out, taking the shortest route out of the cottage, leaving Jessica gaping as he forgot about her. She decided not to pursue him, finally getting the message that he was not interested. She directed her attention to the twin to her left, prepared to laugh at anything he said, funny or not. But try as she did, she couldn't get him out of her head, which put a damper on her mood. So she ended up drinking way too much and wallowed in her misery by sleeping with the twin. She never even found out his name.

Edward took a stroll down the path to the water after making his hasty exit. It was dark and the stars were amazingly brilliant and plentiful in the dark country sky. He sat down by the boat house as he lost himself in the beauty of the night. He hadn't realized that he was softly humming until from out of the corner of his eye he noticed a pair of long legs attached to strappy sandals. He didn't notice that the toes were painted a robin's egg blue with crackly nail polish on top because of the lack of brilliant light.

Being somewhat hiding behind some oars placed against the wall of the structure, the person owning the long, sexy legs did not notice Edward. He was just about to scramble up to his feet when he heard rushed, heavy footsteps approaching. The girl turned quickly to face him and by the first words uttered by each of them, "Bella." "Jake."

Edward crumbled against the wall, praying they did not become aware of his presence. He tried to slow his breathing but his heart was beating too fast, hyper-aware of his unwitting intrusion into their private moment. He tried to hold his breath, taking shallow breaths as calmly as he could. He didn't really want to look either but they were practically right in front of him, at the edge of the dock.

Jake reaching Bella, was out of breath, as if he'd ran the whole way down the path. He took her hands in his and lifted them up to his chest pausing before he began to speak softly to her. Naturally it was one of those nights where you could hear even the rippling of the water against the wooden dock, so Edward could hear every single word and he cringed through every single one.

"Jake, what do you want from me?" Bella sighed out of frustration, her hands motioning in front of her, and then dropping to her sides.

Jake shifted on his feet nervously, his hand obviously fidgeting in his pocket. He took a deep breath, looked to the heavens before continuing. "Bella, I love you. You are –it- for me. Forever, Bella." He emphasized the last with a shaky voice.

Bella, clearly confused, was speechless, briefly glancing at the movement in his pocket. She then swallowed and her voice was breathy, "Jake? You're not…" Not able to finish her thought, but the meaning was clear.

Keeping Bella's hands in one hand, Jake wrapped his other arm around her waist to pull her flush with himself. He nodded slowly, the hint of a smile at the corner of his lips as he replied, "Yes, Bella. Would you do me the honour of marrying me?" He immediately dropped onto one knee and quickly pulled out the little box from his pocket to hold out to her to await her answer.

Bella's hand immediately went to her chest in shock as she watched Jake's movements. Her eyes widened seeing the box in his hand. Her heart began to beat wildly and she laughed out of nervousness. She and Jake had been exclusive for a good length of time, so it really should not have been a great shock to her, but somehow it was. Her other hand instinctively ran through his hair in a sweet loving gesture.

"Get up you fool." Bella giggled. Jake refused, shaking his head.

"No, Bella. Please…answer me." He lifted the box higher, willing her to take it. And she finally did. She glanced at him while grinning before she took her time in opening the lid, anxious to gaze at its contents.

Bella gasped lightly seeing the yellow gold band which held a small –but not too small – diamond with narrow claws. She blinked knowing she should say something but the words were kind of stuck in her throat.

This pause made Jake instantly nervous questioning his timing. He thought he would know what her answer would be; now he was unsure. "Bella?" he questioned her once again, glad that the light was not sufficient for her to see the pain on his features.

Bella recognized the forming anguish in Jake's voice on the second request for an answer. She let out a quick inaudible laugh to dispel his angst. "Oh, Jake. I'm sorry – you caught me off guard, that's all." She continued staring at the ring, still in its box, tilting it slightly to catch the moon's reflection on its facets.

A myriad of thoughts ran through her head. Did she like the ring? Was it big enough? Did she want to be tied up? Did she want to play the field a little more than she had? Did she want a spring or summer wedding? Did she want taffeta or silk for her gown? Did she want to have chicken or fish served at the reception? Bella knew she was avoiding the biggest question of all – did she love Jake enough to commit to him in marriage?

She knew she was taking far too long in answering Jake. But this was a huge thing.

Edward, in the meantime, was still cowering in his slice of darkness secretly praying her answer would be of the negative variety. He had resigned himself to the fact that she would most likely agree and he didn't know why he was so concerned. After all, he had never even spoken to her. He should not care, one way or another. That was when he made the decision to come out of hiding. He sputtered a cough and produced an overly loud fake yawn. Slowly rising to his feet, he feigned surprise when he saw Bella and Jake.

"Oh – hey… I must have passed out," he tried in his best drunken, sleepy voice. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you guys. I'm Edward," trying to sound aloof and oblivious.

Bella nearly jumped out of her skin, literally, so Jake grabbed her arm so she wouldn't fall off the dock into the dark water. She dropped the box but it didn't fall into the water. Jake bent down to retrieve it. He was dismayed at the intrusion and how quickly Bella 'dropped' the subject. And she took a step back.

"Edward…hello." Bella replied first, as Jake growled beside her. She felt a sigh of relief escape from her chest, which released the tension that was building inside her. Sensing this was her chance to think about what had happened with Jake, she seized it. "Were you the one playing guitar inside, earlier?" Her posture was now toward Edward, which did not go unnoticed by Jake. The moment was lost. Jake's temper was hard to control and he decided to walk away, so that he wouldn't say anything he'd regret later.

Edward tried to suppress his smirk as he saw Jake turn to head back up the path to the cottage. Bella's gaze followed Jake and she surprised herself by her lack of desire to follow him. She knew she should but…she didn't really know why the desire was not there. She did not want to run after Jake like she should have wanted to if the answer was what she knew he wanted to hear.

"Yeah," Edward answered vaguely, noticing the non-exchange between her and him. Was she going to go after him? Why wasn't she? He was now curious. Perhaps whatever he thought they had was not an actuality. A glimmer of hope rose inside him. He was well aware that Bella had made a pivotal gesture by not following Jake.

He continued, "And you are…?"

Bella quickly answered, "Bella… and that was Jake…" It was then her gaze slowly turned back to the path which Jake had taken. But it didn't linger there too long, shaking her head slightly as she turned her attention back to Edward.

"Oh…I guess my timing wasn't the greatest. Sorry. I guess I had a few too many beers and came out here to chill, then must have passed out." Edward thought this sounded feasible and by Bella's expression, it was confirmed.

"No, um…." Bella stammered, not too sure how much of the exchange Edward had witnessed, she hoped none.

Edward stretched and yawned to further convince her that he had just woken up and spoke mid-yawn, "…I was going to go and use one of these canoes. It's such a nice night." He looked around as if he were searching for something. "Do you know where they keep their lifejackets?" His questioning gaze returned to her.

Bella thought for a few minutes about what to do. This was really a decision which would be life altering. If she stayed on the dock – with Edward, her relationship with Jake would probably be over. It felt to her as if her feet would not move, immobilized by indecision, but then she took the first step – toward Edward.

X~x~X

A/N: Thank you for reading this little ditty. It was just something hovering in my computer for over a year, which I thought should be finished. I know, no lemons! Sorry.

Thank you to Edwardianslip for his beta skills. You rock.


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